... and some Irish history in the links.
'Twas England bade our Wild Geese fly
that small nations might be free
But their lonely graves are by Suvla's waves
or the fringe of the Great North Sea
Oh, had they died by Pearse's side
or fought with Cathal Brugha
Their names we will keep where the fenians sleep
'neath the shroud of the foggy dew
Farewell thee well, to Princes' landing stage
Mersey River, fare thee well
I am bound for California, a place I know right well.
So fare thee well, my own true love
When I return united we will be
It's not the leaving of Liverpool that grieves me
but my darlin' when I think of thee
I've worked till the sweat, it had me bet
With Russian, Czech and Pole
At shutterin' jams, in the Hydro Dams
or underneath the Thames in a hole
I grafted hard, and I got my cards
and many a ganger's fist across my ears
And if you pride your life, don't join, by Christ, McAlpine's Fusiliers!
4 comments:
I’ve never worked that last one out. A fusilier is a ‘gunman’ in plain English, or a pistoleer more literally. How that lines up with a construction crew is opaque. I assume it has to do with the small trust placed in Irish ‘gunfighters’ by English authority.
I've always taken it as a kind of ironic epithet, since they "served" during WWII, but I really don't know.
One descendant of the wild geese was Patrice de MacMahon, Duke of Magenta, a Frenchman who served as a general, as Marshall of France, and President of France.
Judy Collins sang a a version of Leaving of Liverpool, Farewell, using lyrics Bob Dylan had written.
Example of original lyrics:
"Farewell thee well, to Princes' landing stage
Mersey River, fare thee well
I am bound for California, a place I know right well.
So fare thee well, my own true love
When I return united we will be
It's not the leaving of Liverpool that grieves me
but my darlin' when I think of thee"
Dylan's lyrics:
"Oh it's fare thee well my darlin' true,
I'm leavin' in the first hour of the morn.
I'm bound off for the bay of Mexico
Or maybe the coast of Californ.
So it's fare thee well my own true love,
We'll meet another day, another time.
It ain't the leavin'
That's a-grievin' me
But my true love who's bound to stay behind."
Given that Woody Guthrie was one of Dylan's heroes, it should not be surprising that Dylan followed Woody in penning lyrics to the tune of a folk song.(Such as the lyrics of Reuben James set to the tune of Wildflower.)
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